Inflatable washing machine door seal



March 15, 1966 R. F. SCHWEGLER INFLATABLE WASHING MACHINE DOOR SEALFiled Sept. 25, 1965 INVENTOR. Sc NE a 5 4 ATTORNEYS Fain/la UnitedStates Patent 3,240,038 INFLATABLE WASHING MACHINE DOOR SEAL Roy F.Schwegler, Rock Island, Ill., assignor to Ametek, Inc., New York, N.Y.,a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 310,833 1Claim. (Cl. 68--24) This invention relates to washer-extractors andparticularly to an improved sealing means for slidable doors thatprovide access to the interior of the washer-extractor.

In prior known washer-extractors of the type which employ slidingshell-type doors for gaining access to the interior of the extractingdrum, it has been very diflicult, if not impossible, to provide sealingmeans about the doors thereof, with the result that during the washingand extracting cycles excessive leakage occurs due to the force withwhich the free water is thrown against such doors. Solid strips ofsealing material have been used, but these are not satisfactory. Also,separate inflatable strips have been employed, one for each edge, butthey too have proven unsatisfactory.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a seal for slidableshell-type doors for washer-extractors which will effectively seal thesame.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a seal that will notinhibit the sliding of said doors in opening and closing same.

In one aspect of the invention, a washer-extractor may comprise ahousing within which a perforated basket is mounted for rotation about ahorizontal axis. The basket may have trunnions at each end which extendthrough opposed side walls of the housing and which trunnions arejournaled in bearings mounted in frames at each end of the housing.

The housing may be of semicylindrical form and may include largeopenings in its front, providing access to the interior thereof tofacilitate loading of the perforated basket with clothes to be washed.Slidable shell-type doors may be mounted between track means along eachopposed vertically extending edge of each opening in such fashion thatwhen said doors are in an open position, they lie along anothercylindrical portion of the semicylindrical housing.

In still another aspect of the invention, resilient tubular means mayextend continuously along, and be encased by, said track means as wellas along similar enclosure means along the lower horizontal edges ofsaid openings. The construction is such that only one side of thetubular means is exposed and such that it is adjacent the side and frontedges of the slidable shell-type doors. Since the level of water withinthe housing is always substantially below the upper horizontal edge ofthe openings, no sealing means at this upper edge is required.

In still another aspect of the invention, the usual cycle timer may beprovided for sequentially initiating the operation of the variouscomponents of the Washer-extractor, and at predetermined times in saidcycle, it may effect the supply of pressure fluid to the interior of theresilient tubular means, thereby expanding its exposed side wall untilit provides a continuously extending seal engaging all three edges ofthe doors when in their closed position.

The above, other objects and novel features of the improved sealingmeans for washer-extractors will become apparent from the followingspecification and accompanying drawing which are merely exemplary.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a washer-extractor to which theprinciples of the invention have been applied;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along line2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show sectional views of details of the invention underdifferent operating conditions;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a resilient tubular element used in theinvention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the washerextractor of FIG.1, showing one of the doors partly open.

Referring to the drawing, the principles of the invention are shown asapplied to a washer-extractor including a housing 10 having asemicylindrical portion 11. Housing 10 may be mounted between frames 12and may have a perforated cylindrical basket 13 mounted therein forrotation about a horizontal axis. The basket may be provided withtrunnions 14 that extend through opposed side walls of the housing 10,which trunnions are journaled in bearings (not shown) that may beattached to frames 12.

Basket 13 is adapted to be rotated at a slow washing speed and at a fastextracting speed by driving means well known in the art and which arenot shown.

The front of the semicylindrical portion 11 of housing 10 may includeopenings 15 through which access is had to the basket or drum 13. Drum13 itself includes a slidable shell-type door means 16 covering anopening 17 therein through which clothes to be washed are inserted intothe interior of drum 13.

Track means 18 may extend about the top semicylindrical portion 11 ofhousing 10 substantially 180 from a point at the lower edge of openings15. The track means may be located along each vertically extending edgeof openings 15. A shell-type door means 19 of substantially a 'degreeextent may cover each opening 15, and its side edges may ride withintrack means 18. The 90-degree door means 19 may be connected to anothercurved shell-type element 20 of greater mass than the door means 19, andthe side edges of element 20 may also ride in track means 18. Theconstruction is such that element 20 serves as a counterweight for doormeans 19.

Referring to FIG. 3, track means 18 may comprise channel-shapedcurvilinear members 21, welded or otherwise fixed to housing It} so asto provide opposed channel openings on each side of openings 15. Asimilar channel-shaped member 22 may extend along the lower horizontaledge of openings 15, and it is joined at its ends to the correspondingends of elements 21, thereby forming a continuous channel frame aboutthree sides of openings 15, but not along the top horizontal edge for areason to be explained later.

Referring to FIG. 6, a tubular element 23 may include formed legportions 24, 25 conforming to the curve of the portion 11 of housing 10,said legs being joined by a portion 26 forming a continuous, generallyU-shaped inflatable element. The free ends of legs 24, 25 are sealed. Aninlet tube 27 is provided for each element 23 and it may be connected tothe sealed end of one of the legs 24, 25. Element 23 is adapted to beinserted within the channel-shaped frame members 21, 22 and to beretained therein by removable strips 28, 29 that expose only one side 30of the elements 23. Doors 19 may be provided with beaded or curled edges31 along the three sides thereof that cooperate with the tubularelements 23.

During the washing and extracting cycles, pressure fluid may be admittedto the interior of the continuous tubular elements 23 through lines 27,causing them to inflate to the condition shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, therebyproviding an effective liquid seal about the doors. Exhausting thepressure fluid within elements 23 permits free movement of the doors 19.

Since the water level within housing It) never exceeds substantially theelevation shown in FIG. 2, and the top horizontal edge 32 of the opening15 is substantially above such level, the positive sealing meansprovided by the elements 23 is not required at edge 32.

Although the various features of the improved seal for shell-type doorsof washer-extractors have been shown and described in detail to fullydisclose one embodiment of the invention, it will be evident thatchanges may be made in such details and certain features including usinginflatable means on all four edges may be used without others withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a washer-extractor, a housing adapted to contain a body of liquid; aperforated drum mounted for rotation within said housing; opening meansin said housing providing access to the interior of the perforated drumtherein; slidable door means adapted to cover said opening means;continuous channel means along opposed vertically extending edges ofsaid opening means as well as along the lower horizontal edge of saidopening means, said channel means providing a continuous space withinwhich three edges of said door means are received; continuous inflatabletubular means having three continuous edge portions received by saidchannel means so as to be generally normal to said door edges; means forretaining said tubular means within said channel means; and means forconveying pressure fluid to the interior of said tubular means when saiddoor means is in closed position whereby the three edges of said doorsealingly engage the corresponding portions of said continuous tubularmeans.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,050,211 8/1962Hutterer 68139 X FOREIGN PATENTS 219,099 8/ 1958 Australia.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner.

